Deal or No Deal: Still on TV, Host & Banker Secrets 2024

There’s something genuinely addictive about watching a stranger deliberate over 22 boxes for two hours. Deal or No Deal has outlasted most reality shows, spending nearly two decades on British television—and Stephen Mulhern’s candid admission that he has never met the Banker reveals how much mystery the programme deliberately sustains.

Current Host: Stephen Mulhern · Original Run: 2005-2016 on Channel 4 · Revival Network: ITV · Original Presenter: Noel Edmonds · Top Prize: £250,000

The table below consolidates verified show specifications from multiple sources.

Is Deal or No Deal still on TV?

Yes—and back on a major network after an absence of nearly seven years. ITV confirmed the reboot on 20 January 2023, ordering an initial 20-episode series that premiered on 20 November 2023 in a 4pm timeslot on ITV1 and ITVX. That puts the show squarely in the daytime/afternoon zone where it originally thrived on Channel 4.

Future plans for 2026

ITV has not issued any public statement confirming or denying plans beyond 2025. Based on the pattern of the Channel 4 run—which lasted 11 years across hundreds of episodes—the production model suggests the reboot continues as long as ratings and advertiser appetite hold. No official renewal announcement has been made for 2026 at this stage.

Current airing on ITV

New episodes have aired throughout 2024. The show runs in the traditional teatime-adjacent slot, and ITVX carries the full back catalogue for catch-up viewers. The production company, Remarkable Entertainment, is a Banijay UK subsidiary, meaning the format sits within one of Europe’s largest television production groups.

Who’s the presenter on Deal or No Deal?

Stephen Mulhern hosts the ITV reboot, taking over from Noel Edmonds who presented the original Channel 4 run from 31 October 2005 until the final episode on 23 December 2016. Mulhern is no stranger to British television—he’s best known as a presenter on This Morning’s gaming segments, having worked alongside Esther McVey and later alongside other hosts as the show evolved.

Stephen Mulhern’s role

Mulhern hosts both the on-screen action and manages the ritual phone call to the Banker that sits at the centre of the programme’s tension. In interviews, he has been candid about the limits of his knowledge. “I’ve been told he does the show and leaves, and I have never met him,” Mulhern said on This Morning, referring to the Banker. That admission—that the host genuinely does not know who he’s talking to—is unusual in television presenting and speaks to the carefully maintained mystery around the role.

Previous hosts

Noel Edmonds is the only other presenter in the UK version’s history. Edmonds brought a particular showmanship to the role, with dramatic gestures, large gestures toward the audience, and a theatrical energy that defined the Channel 4 era. The contrast with Mulhern’s more grounded, conversational style is one of the notable shifts in the reboot’s tone.

Does Stephen Mulhern actually talk to the banker?

Yes—those phone calls are real, and they’re central to how the programme works. The format hinges on the host making the call to the Banker using a Bakelite telephone on the contestant’s desk, reading out the offer, and then relaying the Banker’s response. What happens off-air is less clear, but Mulhern has been frank about his own limited knowledge of the operation.

Revelations from Stephen Mulhern

“Hello, it is the actual banker. It’s not a producer on the end of the phone,” Mulhern stated on This Morning, addressing a persistent speculation that the calls were staged. He also reportedly said that the current Banker is male and that “supposedly, he goes into the hotel and listens to the contestants and what they’re up to” before making the call—suggesting the Banker reviews footage or audio of the contestants’ behaviour in the studio before making decisions.

“I don’t know who the Banker is, so I wouldn’t be able to recognise who it was.”

— Stephen Mulhern, ITV Host (The Independent)

Banker communication process

The mechanics have remained consistent across both eras. The Banker makes cash offers calculated by an algorithm or production team, typically featuring odd first digits (£5,900 being the classic example). The host reads the offer verbatim and manages the contestant’s response. The Banker does not appear on screen at any point.

Is there really someone on the other end of the phone in Deal or No Deal?

There is—and until 2015, nobody in the public knew who it was. The identity of the Banker was one of British television’s most durable mysteries for a decade, with Noel Edmonds himself publicly denying a rumour in 2006 that Glenn Hugill was the voice behind the calls. It took until 2015 for Richard Osman to confirm the truth: Glenn Hugill, an actor and executive producer on the show, had been the original Banker since the programme’s launch.

Banker’s identity hints

Hugill had a background in television production and had played Alan McKenna on Coronation Street from 1996 to 1997. His dual role—executive producer and on-screen voice—helped explain how the secret was maintained. He also continued as Banker for one year into the ITV reboot, according to available reports, before being replaced by a different, still-unidentified Banker.

“I can confirm it’s Glenn Hugill, the guy who was an executive producer on the show.”

— Richard Osman, TV Personality (Metro interview, via The Independent)

Richard Osman’s revelations

Richard Osman, then primarily known as a television writer and presenter, revealed Hugill’s identity in a Metro interview in 2015—roughly a year before the Channel 4 run ended. Osman’s stature as a known television personality gave the revelation credibility, and it was subsequently reported widely enough to settle decades of speculation. The current ITV Banker, however, remains unnamed and unidentified in public sources.

Do the contestants on Deal or No Deal stay in a hotel?

The available information on contestant logistics is limited and largely anecdotal. While specific details about accommodation arrangements are not publicly confirmed by ITV or the production company, Mulhern’s reference to the Banker listening to contestants from a hotel suggests that contestants or the Banker may be kept in separate accommodation during recording—but this point remains unverified in any public source.

Contestant experience

Contestants are selected through an application process and appear in the studio during recording. Beyond that, details about pre-show preparation, accommodation during filming, or any isolation protocols are not documented in publicly available production notes or interviews. What is clear from the show’s format is that contestants play in real time, making decisions with genuine money at stake.

British show details

Deal or No Deal follows the standard European daytime version format first used in Italy. The 22 boxes contain pre-allocated cash amounts ranging from 1p to £250,000, and each game ends with the player opening all boxes—including their own—regardless of any deals accepted during play. The Banker notionally owns the money on the game board and acts as the quasi-fictional antagonist throughout.

Timeline

Eight distinct periods shape the UK series’ history, with the original run accounting for more than a decade.

What we know for certain — and what we don’t

The confirmed facts are solid on the surface: the show returned to ITV in November 2023 with Stephen Mulhern hosting, the format remains unchanged with 22 boxes and the Banker phone call at its centre, and the original Banker Glenn Hugill’s identity was publicly revealed in 2015. What’s genuinely unclear is the current Banker’s identity and whether that person’s tenure is indefinite or part of a rotating system.

The programme’s production company has maintained a tight operational structure around the Banker role since the original launch. Stephen Mulhern’s candour about not knowing who he speaks to suggests the separation is structural rather than incidental. Whether ITV’s production approach changes as the reboot matures remains to be seen.

What people are saying

“Hello, it is the actual banker. It’s not a producer on the end of the phone.”

— Stephen Mulhern, ITV Host (This Morning interview)

“I’ve been told he does the show and leaves, and I have never met him.”

— Stephen Mulhern, ITV Host (This Morning interview)

“I don’t know who the Banker is, so I wouldn’t be able to recognise who it was.”

— Stephen Mulhern, ITV Host (The Independent)

For British viewers who grew up with Noel Edmonds at the helm, the reboot represents a question of continuity versus reinvention. Mulhern brings a different energy—less theatrical, more conversational—and the Banker role has shifted from an identified actor to an anonymous figure again. The format itself remains unchanged, which is arguably the point: the ritual of the boxes, the gradual elimination, and the phone call that interrupts the rhythm with a number—that machinery is what audiences return for.

Bottom line

Deal or No Deal is still on ITV, still running with Stephen Mulhern, and still keeping the Banker secret. For viewers deciding whether to tune in, the answer is straightforward: new episodes are airing, and the format that defined the Channel 4 era is intact. For those curious about the Banker specifically, the mystery has been partially lifted (Glenn Hugill’s identity) and then deliberately restored with the current anonymous successor. The show runs as long as it holds an audience, and ITV has shown no public sign of walking away from it.